


A First Time For Everything

by PrincessAmericaChavez



Series: Multiverse Anecdotes [8]
Category: Young Avengers
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-14
Updated: 2013-11-14
Packaged: 2018-01-01 10:56:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1044019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessAmericaChavez/pseuds/PrincessAmericaChavez
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the team's getting to know each other, some things easily become normal... and others still surprise them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A First Time For Everything

America changes the song on her iPod and looks up again at the two boys doing what she calls magic tricks —mostly to see Loki’s pissed off expression.

The first weeks traveling together are odd at best. The six of them are trying to learn how to live with and relate to each other. However, there’s one thing that becomes a set rule almost automatically: America’s watching over Billy.

This is especially true when him and Loki are having their magic lessons. She sits casually in the common room, reading a book, listening to her iPod or painting her nails pitch-black, but she’s always watching, peeking over her magazine, wearing only one earphone, making a comment now and then when she thinks Loki’s overstepping his boundaries to push Billy… or to reluctantly agree with him.

It seemed weird at first. Nobody knew the reason, though Loki nonchalantly admitted it was because she didn’t trust him. Still, it took a while for Kate and Teddy not to feel suspicious. Now, after a couple weeks traveling and saving each other’s lives, her presence’s somehow reassuring. Whatever her reasons are, she’s obviously there to protect them.

Knowing she’s there, Kate’s relaxed enough to go away and spend time with Noh-Varr, getting to know each other better. Teddy, who’s been banned by Loki from their training sessions because he kept distracting his boyfriend, feels comfortable knowing if anything goes wrong there’ll be someone there to keep things under control.

Billy’s specially thankful for her presence, like a big sister or a guardian angel, because he knows Loki’s reputation well enough not to fully trust him. The norse god’s the only one unhappy about her habit. He tried to ban her too, once, which resulted on a new dent on the ship and a black eye.

Now, she looks at them quietly. The time the next song takes to start, allows her to listen to their bantering.

"I told you, I can’t!" Billy insists.

"Come on, Kaplan," Loki digs his fingers on his temples with frustration. "We’ve been at it all day long and you haven’t been able to hit one of the targets. You can’t even shoot straight! If you want to stop this parasite and get home to the arms of Mommy and Daddy, you gotta be able to shot a simple defense spell!”

America frowns. The bantering’s been going on for a while and she can see Billy starting to get upset.

"Don’t even glare at me like that, Chavez," Loki blurts out standing up. "You know as well as I do that Billy needs to get a hold of his powers. He can’t count on you and me coming back to save the day all his life.”

The kid’s on a roll, going on with his monologue as he pours himself a glass of soda.

"I mean, at the speed we are going, we may as well just wait until we are all old enough to be brainwashed by Mother and hand him to her ourselves."

America takes off her earphone, glad she wasn’t painting her nails today cause she would’ve ruined them.

"Seriously," Loki goes on, "you couldn’t hit an elephant if you had it in front of you. I have never seen such an incompetent wizard, pupil or reality warp—"

The glass hits the floor, crashing into a million pieces and spilling the soda on the shinny metal floor. Loki drops to the floor, several feet away from where he was standing, having left his face neatly printed on the ship’s wall.

"What happened?" Teddy’s voice can be heard down the hallway.

"Again, Chavez?" Kate yells too, coming this way.

America stands still by her chair, with eyes wide open that bounce between the beaten down kid and Billy, whose spell had sent him flying across the room.

"Kaplan!!" Loki moans angrily.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," Billy says speaking incredibly fast. "I… I was trying to hit the target, but you kept talking, and I got distracted… and angry… but I didn’t mean to.. are you—"

A sudden noise makes Billy stop. America’s laughing.

No, not chuckling, or snorting, or the unusual “heh” she lets out between punches… She’s giggling.

Kate, Teddy and Noh poke their heads through the door and everyone stares at her in shock. The sound is clear, warm and unapologetic, almost as if she was laughing in a different language.

When the sound finally dies in the air, she looks around at everyone staring. She raises a defiant brow, but there’s still a trace of a smile lingering on her lips.

"What happened?" Teddy finally breaks the silence walking in.

"Magic boy’s got some tricks under his sleeve," America says grabbing her iPod and walking to the exit. On her way out, she ruffles Billy’s hair distractedly.

"Did she just—" Kate asks.

"I think so," Billy nods.

"What was that funny?” Noh-Varr asks with a hint of curiosity hidden behind his usual indifference.

"As usual," Loki says brushing the dust from his clothes, "it involved me being aggressively hurt."


End file.
